Axonal injury represents a critical target for traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries prevention and treatment. Finite element head models are often used to predict brain injury caused by mechanical loading exerted on the head. Many studies have been attempted to understand injury mechanisms and to define mechanical parameters of axonal injury. Mechanical strain has been identified as the proximal cause of axonal injury. Since the microstructure of the brain white matter is locally oriented, the stress and strain fields are highly axon orientation dependent. The accuracy of the finite element simulations depends not only on correct determination of the material properties but also on precise depiction of the tissues' microstructure (microscopic level). We applied a finite element method and a mircomechanics approach to simulate the kinematics of axon, which was developed according to experimental data, and found that the degree of coupling between the axons and surrounding cells within the tissue will affect the behavior of the tissue. In this study, the finite element model and the kinematic axonal model are applied to the Representative Volume Element (RVE) of central nervous system (CNS) white matter to investigate the tissue level mechanical behavior. The uniaxial tensile test on the white matter tissue will be presented as an example using the RVE.
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